Kenneth Wain

Kenneth Wain (born 1943) is a major Maltese philosopher and educator. His areas of specialisation in philosophy are chiefly education, ethics, political philosophy.

Beginnings

Wain was born at Sliema, Malta, in 1943. He then pursued his higher studies in philosophy and in education at the University of London, England. He later studied philosophy in Malta.

Career

After some teaching experience in multiple junior high schools in Malta, Wain started his long teaching career at the University of Malta. Here he was also appointed Dean of the Faculty of Education. Along the way, Wain continued to specialise in ethics, political philosophy, the philosophy of education, and international relations.

Apart from playing a leading role in Malta’s national educational policy development, and in the setting of the national curriculum, he continued to contribute actively in the field as chairman of the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools, and of the Foundation for Educational Services. Wain is also a board member of the International Network of Philosophers of Education. In 2007 Wain was appointed Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations.

Throughout his academic and philosophical career, Wain published considerably, and also established himself as a public figure of liberal views with a ready, sharp, but always civil, tongue.

The following are some of Wain’s publications.

The list might need updating. Please help with the on-going process of updating.

Books

• Lifelong Education and Participation (ed.; 1984)
• Philosophy of Lifelong Education (1987)
• The Maltese National Minimum Curriculum (1990)
• Theories of Teaching (1992)
• Luciano Micallef (1993)
• Research into Secondary School Curricula (with Paul Heywood u James Calleja; 1994)
• The Value Crisis (1995)
• Tomorrow’s Schools (with Ronald Sultana, Mary Darmanin and others; 1995)
• Raymond Pitre: a study (with Raymond Pitre; 2000)
• The Learning Society in a Postmodern World (2004)

Articles

The list certainly needs updating. Please help with the on-going process of updating.

Published abroad

• Lifelong Education—a Deweyian Challenge (1984)
• Lifelong education and philosophy of education (1985)
• Il-Vjolenza fl-Idejologija Politika (Violence in Political Ideology; 1987)
• The Case of Lifelong Learning: A Reply to Rozycki (1989)
• Lifelong Education: A Duty to Oneself? (1991)
• Evaluating History and Social Studies Textbooks (1992)
• Malta (with Peter Mayo; 1992)
• Human Rights, Political Education and Democratic Values (1992)
• Lifelong education and adult education — the state of the theory (1993)
• Lifelong Education: Illiberal and Repressive? (1993)
• Strong Poets and Utopia: Rorty's Liberalism, Dewey and Democracy (1993)
• A Postmodernist John Dewey? (1994)
• Competing Conceptions of the Educated Public (1994)
• Richard Rorty, Education, and Politics (1995)
• MacIntyre and the Idea of an Educated Public (1995)
• Foucault, Education, Self and Modernity (1996)
• Thinking Again (1999)
• The learning society: postmodern politics (2000)
• Lifelong Learning: Small Adjustment or Paradigm Shift? (2001)
• Richard Rorty and the end of Philosophy of Education (2002)
• Contribution (2002)
• Postmodernism/Post-structuralism (with Michael Peters; 2002)
• MacIntyre: Teaching, Politics and Practice (2003)
• This Thing Called 'The Philosophy of Education (2006)
• Foucault: The Ethics of Self-Creation and the Future of Education (2007)
• Lifelong Learning and the Politics of the Learning Society (2007)
• Rejoinder (2008)

Published in Malta

• Richard Saliba – Pitturi (1980)
• Opening Address (1988)
• Esprit Barthet (1991)
• Frank Portelli (1991)
• Creating a Philosophy of Lifelong Education (1992)
• Educational Research Workshop (1992)
• Creative Thinking (1993)
• Creative Thinking: Context and Curriculum (1994)
• Secondary Education and Research in Malta (1994)
• Il-Ġenituri, l-Edukazzjoni u l-Iskejjel (Parents, Education and Schools; 1994)
• Konservatiżmu u Ċentralizzazzjoni fl-Edukazzjoni f’Epoka ta’ Tibdil Mgħaġġel (Educational Conservatism and Centralisation in an Age of Rapid Change; 1995)
• Introduction (1996)
• Foreword (1996)

Poetry

A number of Wain’s poetry appeared in various anthologies, including the following:

• Malta: The new poetry (co-authored; 1971)
• limestone 84, ed. by Daniel Massa (1978)

• Journal of Philosophy of Education, vol. 18, issue 2, Great Britain, pp. 257-264.
• International Journal of Lifelong Education, Volume 4, Issue 2, 1985, Routledge, pp. 107-117.
• L-Elementi Kriminali u Vjolenti fi Hdan il-Partit Laburista (Criminal and Violent Elements within the Labour Party), ed by Lino Briguglio.
• Educational Theory, vol. 39 no. 2, Great Britain, pp. 151-62.
• Journal of Philosophy of Education, vol. 25, issue 2, Great Britain, pp. 273-278.
• Schulbucher auf dem Profstand (Scholastic Textbooks under Scrutiny), ed. by Karl Peter Fritzche, Georg Eckert Institute, Germany, pp. 23-31.
• Perspectives on Adult Education and Training in Europe, National Institute of Adult Education, ed. by Peter Jarvis, Leicester, England, pp. 249-259.
• Educational Philosophy and Theory, Australia, vol. 24, Issue 1, March, pp. 68-82.
• International Journal of Lifelong Education, vol. 12, Issue 2, Routledge, England, pp. 85-99.
• Educational Philosophy and Theory, vol. 25, issue 1, Great Britain, pp. 58-70.
• Political Studies, Political Studies Association, Malden, USA, vol. 41, issue 3, pp. 394-407.
• The Wilson Quarterly, Washington, USA, vol. 18, Summer.
• Journal of Philosophy of Education, vol. 28, issue 2, Great Britain, pp. 149-160.
• Educational Theory, vol. 45, no. 3, Summer, pp. 395-409.
• Journal Studies in Philosophy and Education, Springer, Netherlands, vol. 14, no. 1, March, pp. 105-123.
• Journal of Philosophy of Education, vol. 30, issue 3, Great Britain, pp. 345-360.
• Journal of Philosophy of Education, vol. 33, issue 2, Great Britain, pp. 295-307.
• International Journal of Lifelong Education, vol. 19, issue 1, Great Britain, pp. 36-53.
• International Handbook of Lifelong Learning, ed. by David N. Aspin, Judith D. Chapman, Michael J. Hatton, and Yukiko Sawano, Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 183-198.
• Richard Rorty: education, philosophy, and politics, ed. by Michael A. Peters, Ghiraldelli Júnior Ghiraldelli Jr., Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 163-177.
• I See Red Everywhere, Norbert Francis Attard, The Carnyx Group, Glasgow, Scotland
• The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Education, ed. by Nigel Blake, Paul Smeyers, Richard Smith, and Paul Standish, Blackwell, Great Britain, chap. 3.
• Journal of Philosophy of Education, vol. 37, issue 2, pp. 225-239.
• Journal of Philosophy of Education, Great Britain, vol. 40, issue 3, pp. 391-403.
• Why Foucault? New Directions in Educational Research, ed. by Michael A. Peters and Tina (A.C.) Besley, Studies in the Postmodern Theory of Education, vol. 292, New York, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt am Main, Oxford, Wien.
• Philosophical Perspectives on Lifelong Learning, ed. by Aspin, David N., Springer, chap. 2.
• Educational Philosophy and Theory, vol. 40, issue 4, pp. 575-581.
• Illum, January – February, 1980.
• Tourism in Malta; What future?, Studia Editions, Malta, pp. 2-3.
• ^ Malta: Six Modern Artists, ed. by Victor Fenech, Malta University Services, Malta, pp. 99-123.
• Collegium Melitense Quatercentenary Celebrations – 1592-1992, ed. by Roger Ellul Micallef and Stanley Fiorini, University of Malta, Malta, pp. 603-621.
• Research into secondary school curricula: report of the Educational Research Workshop held in Malta, 6–9 October 1992, ed. by Paul Heywood, Kenneth Wain, and James Calleja.
• The First International Conference on Creative Thinking, Foundation for International Studies, University of Malta, Malta, p. 19.
• Creative Thinking, ed. by Sandra Dingli, Malta University Press, Malta, pp. 80-92.
• Research into Secondary School Curricula, ed. by Kenneth Wain, Paul Heywood, and James Calleja, Malta, pp. 45-55.
• Genituri u Ghalliema ghal Edukazzjoni Ahjar (Parents and Teachers for Better Education), ed. by Ronald Sultana, Mireva, Malta, pp. 1-3.
• Norbert Attard, an Invitation to ..., 'Foundation for International Studies, Valletta, Malta.
• Norbert Attard, Prints and Paintings, 1977 - 1996, Roemer-und Pelizaeus Museum, Hildesheim, Germany, ed. by Dennis Vella.

Being an educationist with a pronounced bend towards the western model of democracy, Wain’s early philosophy was very much influenced by John Dewey. His later philosophy also draws on the works of poststructuralist philosophers such as Michel Foucault, Jürgen Habermas and Richard Rorty.

This can be especially gauged from Wain’s interest in the concept of lifelong learning, which, he maintains, should not be infected with any mania for efficient productivity in relation to political ideology, but, on the contrary, should be imbued with a broad humanistic awareness. This corroborates Wain’s understanding of democracy, which, to him, has more to do with individual maturity and responsibility and less with State hegemony or political performance. According to Wain, education and democracy are handmaids of each other. His political, moral, and aesthetic, philosophies, to be sure, all stem from, and are based on, this foundation.